A recent government study concluded that the total annual cost due to corrosion in the U.S. alone is around $276 billion, representing nearly 3.1% of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product in 1998. Corrosion affects many different industry sectors, including infrastructure, utilities, transportation, production and manufacturing, and government. The infrastructure sector includes highway bridges, gas and liquid transmission pipelines, waterways and ports, hazardous materials storage, airports and railroads. The utility sector includes gas distribution, drinking water and sewer systems, electrical utilities and telecommunications. The transportation sector includes motor vehicles, ships, aircraft, railroad cars and hazardous materials transport. The production and manufacturing sector includes oil and gas exploration and production, mining, petroleum refining, chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, pulp and paper, agriculture, food processing, electronics and home appliances. The government sector includes defense and nuclear waste storage. Corrosion is thus a serious and widespread problem for a variety of industries.
There have been numerous attempts to address corrosive processes, none of which have been especially satisfactory. For example, chromate, nitrate, and amine-based compositions typically degrade the performance of coatings and, therefore, should be removed prior to application of a coating layer. Water-based flash rust products are typically toxic and thus potentially hazardous to the environment. Handling and disposal of toxic materials can be difficult and expensive. In addition, the high pH of many of many water-based compositions can burn exposed skin and thus require extensive PPE (personal protection equipment) investment and usage. Moreover, if not completely removed prior to coating, residual film of water-based products can disrupt the performance of coatings. Furthermore, water soluble solutions are greatly affected by water quality variations such as pH and water hardness.
Preventative measures are likewise unavailing since they are typically only marginally effective and/or cumbersome. Dehumidification processes, for example, require large spaces, expensive equipment, extensive monitoring and forced ventilation systems. Blasting, cleaning and coating processes are also expensive and provide inconsistent results.
Accordingly, a significant need exists for environmentally safe, cost-effective compositions and methods for the prevention and treatment of corrosive processes in a variety of industry sectors, including infrastructure, utilities, transportation, production and manufacturing, and the government.